At the conclusion of this workshop, participants will be able to effectively manage the entire mediation process, including but not limited to:

Demonstrating competence and confidence in initial phone calls, turning inquiries into mediations, and bringing the parties to the table with a mindset and readiness for resolution;

Understanding and navigating the complex ethical issues surrounding disclosure and confidentiality to build a mediation practice based on integrity;

Constructing an environment that fosters collaboration and agreement;

Integrating the complexity of legal and factual issues with emotions and party dynamics;

Understanding the dynamics of mediating with lawyers and insurance adjusters at the table while practice with real life case content;

Employing adaptive negotiation strategies to lead the parties to agreement;

Formulating creative and durable settlements.

Our trainer, Lee Jay Berman, adds the following comments:

This program is a practical training course. While covering theory to give you a framework and the intellectual understanding of negotiation and mediation, this course is about learning. Our focus is on your doing, practicing and experimenting with negotiating and mediating. There is much to teach about mediation and negotiation, but one reason mediators fail is because they understand the theory, but cannot execute it when under the gun. In this course, you will mediate and negotiate your way into understanding.

In this course you will learn how to be a complete mediator. Some training programs specialize in teaching a particular method, theory or approach. This course will give you hands-on experience with all of the different styles and approaches that complete mediators call upon. Advocates and party representatives will learn how well-equipped mediators think and how to be most effective in negotiating their own cases.

You will also learn how to negotiate better settlements. Because negotiation is the core component of the mediation process, this course emphasizes negotiation skills, strategies and techniques that you and those around you use to impact others’ ability to see and understand.

Negotiation is a continuum from very competitive to very collaborative. To be a complete negotiator, you must become familiar and practiced with all approaches to negotiation. To be a complete mediator, you must be able to recognize these styles in your participants, be fluent in responding to each technique and tactic, and eventually become masterful at orchestrating a negotiation in order to bring about agreement.

Beyond negotiation, this course will emphasize the communication skills that are critical in mediating and settling cases, especially listening to the message beyond the monetary offer to detect strategy, emotions, and hidden messages. You will also learn how to get people to the table, how to create an environment of agreement once they get there, and how to close the deal and bring about a lasting settlement agreement.

Lastly, we will review recent case law and ethical standards in the field concerning confidentiality, disclosure and ethical challenges, as well as how to deal effectively with the interests of outside counsel, insurance representatives, corporate counsel, and parties, including those who are in pro per.

ADDED BONUS #1: Observations.All graduates of the Mediating Commercial and Litigated Cases course are invited to observe Mr. Berman’s live mediations and see the skills taught in the course used in an actual mediation. (Note: Members of Mr. Berman's Mentoring Groups have first priority for available observation opportunities.)

ADDED BONUS #2: Return and Audit the Course.
All graduates of the Mediating Commercial and Litigated Cases course are invited to return and audit the course again any time it is offered by simply paying a $150 fee for meals and materials. Simply contact the Institute to make arrangements in advance.

ADDED BONUS #3: Small Class Size.
Class size is limited to 12 students - nearly one half the size of other major institute courses.

Upon completion, graduates will receive a Certificate of Completion from the American Institute of Mediation. This course meets the educational requirements of most court mediation programs and most panels requiring a 40-hour mediation training. More importantly, it will prepare you to be a successful mediator – helping the parties settle cases that they never thought could.

I look forward to meeting you and working with you as you pursue your goals in this course.

"Thanks for one of the best weeks of my professional career. My words are fruitless to describe how great your class was. I came in thinking that I knew everything there was to know about mediation and realized very quickly how absolutely clueless that I really was. If I am fortunate enough to handle a thousand mediations, your words will guide me through each."

-Bill Walk, Esq. Memphis, Tennessee

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"Lee Jay is the "go-to guy" if you want to learn how to mediate litigated cases."

-Fred Crawford, Redondo Beach, California

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"This course will change your approach to mediation, forever. Find the time to take this program, it will change your practice."

**An application has been made for 32.5 hours, including 2 hours of ethics and 1 hour of elimination of bias of California MCLE Credits from the CA State Bar

This course is five full days, Tuesday through Saturday, beginning daily with breakfast (and registration on the first day) at 8:30 a.m. Class begins at 9:00 and continues to 5:30 daily, with a break for lunch and one 10-15 minute break in the morning and the afternoon. Lunch and snacks will be served and are included. We typically end by 2:00 on the last day of the course. Please arrange to stay to the end and schedule outgoing flights after 5:00 p.m.

Enrollment Pricing

Pricing Options

General Enrollment

$2195 after January 7, 2019

$1995 by 5:00pm January 7, 2019 (Early Bird Pricing)

*Government/Non-Profit

$1895

Mediating Commercial and Litigated Cases

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NOTE: Mediator's Starter Kit is available at a discounted price of $129 (regular $149) when bundled with enrollment in this course.

*May be subject to verification. Available to sitting judges, full-time employees of government agencies and non-profit organizations.